Many websites rely on single factor authentication. A user, to access the website, enters their username and password. The password is compared to a password for the username and when correlated the user is provided access. That said, in higher security applications, two factor authentication is often used wherein a physical device provides a data value additional to the password in order to validate access. The physical device is secure and provides a rolling value such that each access attempt receives a different value. Alternatively, the value provided is in response to a challenge where a user enters data into the device and receives a response to enter into the second factor identification field.
Recently, it has become apparent that personal information can be used as a second factor. As such, some websites allow a user to authenticate with a mobile phone number. The mobile phone number correlates to an SMS destination and a message is sent to the SMS destination. Either the user then enters the message content or a portion thereof, or the user responds to the message in order to indicate that it was received.
It would be advantageous to provide a convenient and secure second factor authentication.